The materials and processes of making often carry just as much meaning physically and aesthetically as the content of the work itself. The works in this section fall into two categories: abstraction and the deployment of unconventional or historically marginalized media. Women have historically been excluded from certain genres of painting, and media such as clay, textiles, or performance have been discounted as low art and not taken seriously. While not all the works in this grouping are explicitly feminist, all of the artists manipulate the aesthetics of composition to communicate layered meanings and rebel against the norms of the artistic process.
Just like Linda Nochlin confronts “greatness” in her essay, these artists confront the ways in which women have historically been excluded from the art world. Not only do these artists reject the rules of making, but they also question societal expectations of art. They abolish the binary of masculine and feminine art genres by reclaiming previously marginalized methods of art-making. In addition, they burst into scale and media from which women have been traditionally excluded. These artists reference and bend more traditional mediums and forms of representation, directly confronting previously established standards of “greatness.”